


Teardrop Prison

by autumnstwilight (sewohayami)



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, F/M, Psychological Horror, Tragedy, Unreliable Narrator, Yandere!Mipha, slight Zelink in the background, temporarily out of character, there is a sex scene, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-20 04:54:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13139499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sewohayami/pseuds/autumnstwilight
Summary: For the first time in ages, Link is spending some time with Mipha on Vah Ruta. But what is she planning?[Content Warning: While not extreme, it is difficult to give specific content warnings for this fic past what is in the tags. Readers with particular sensitivities should be advised.]





	Teardrop Prison

The sunlight danced across the waters of East Reservoir Lake, the rough stone beneath him warm on his hands. He could not say how long he had been sitting here, at rest for the first time in ages.

Mipha’s head fins swayed in the slight breeze, the shining crescents that adorned her catching the sun. She looked at him with an old, familiar gentleness.

"Do you remember the first time I brought you here?"

He paused in thought, "It was when…?"

"When we fought off the Lizalfos, yes. It was as tall as the two of us put together, but I insisted on going after it. To protect the village. Me with my little spear and you with your training sword. You managed to put it down, but you got pretty hurt."

She looked deeply apologetic. "I healed you, of course, but it was all my fault in the first place. So then I brought you all the way up here, by waterfall. It was my way of apologizing."

She gave a soft laugh, "Ring any bells?"

He furrowed his brow. "It… sounds familiar. But I don’t quite recall."

"Ah," she said, "Well, don’t worry too much. We were very young."

There was a grating creak of stone on stone as Vah Ruta settled underneath them. As the sun set, the various stone parts of the beast cooled and shifted. He didn’t understand the first thing about how it worked, but it was a marvelous creature, blue light shimmering over the exterior in swirling patterns like water.

Mipha was looking pensively into that sunset, a hint of something unreadable on her face. He cleared his throat.

"You said, when this is all over? About me spending some time here…"

He paused, then said in a quiet voice, "I think I’d like that."

She turned to him, beaming, the orange sun catching tears in the corners of her eyes. For a moment, he found himself wondering if he had not said the words that he had thought. He felt a sudden panic that maybe he had accidentally proposed and was unaware of it. Was she really just that happy to hear him affirm their friendship?

She composed herself, and then spoke in her usual soft tone.

"Thank you. I’m glad to hear it."

Mipha stood, and dusted off the fins that hung down over her hips. The light shone through in shades of green and yellow.

"I have more preparations to make. Follow me."

Together, they made the climb back up Vah Ruta’s trunk into the Divine Beast.

* * *

 

He watched her with his hands resting on the hilt of his sword, standing guard as she fussed and measured and adjusted. Now and then, he thought he saw something dart past the corner of his eye and into the shadows. A rat? He shook his head, just a trick of the light. The journey to Zora’s Domain had tired him out more than he thought.

Was Mipha tired too? She had seemed happy earlier that day, but now she was clearly anxious, checking and rechecking the same parts. Although she was shy in person, it was unlike her to lack confidence when it came to her duty as a warrior. Slightly bored, he began to look around the interior of the Divine Beast.

"That’s the control room, Link. Don’t go in there," she said. Though her voice was soft as always, her tone was flat and commanding, all soldier now.

Obediently, he turned away from the ramp that led down into the shadows, and resumed his post.

"Can I help with anything?" he asked.

"Oh… Oh no, it’s… I couldn’t explain this even if I tried… This Divine Beast is adjusted to work with me, personally. Only I can tell if it’s right."

He privately thought that she didn’t _look_ like she knew, but decided to keep that thought to himself. He continued to watch her silently, still unable to shake off the distinct feeling that there was something watching him in turn. Perhaps it was the Divine Beast. His instincts were rarely wrong.

He didn’t like what they were telling him about this place.

 _Still,_ he tried to persuade himself, the Divine Beasts are part of the prophecy, and under the control of the Champions from the four corners of Hyrule. He put his faith in the wisdom of the royal family, and Zelda’s obvious enthusiasm for the machines. Whatever made her eyes shine with that joyful light couldn’t be wrong, or so it seemed to him.

"Mipha… I think we should finish up for the day." He stretched, and gave his sluggish legs a shake.

She continued staring at the innards of some mechanism, seemingly deep in thought.

"Mipha?"

"Oh. Well... Just give me a moment…"

She twisted a screw for what must have been the hundredth time.

"Ready?" he asked. "They’re probably waiting for us back in the Domain."

Again, that unreadable expression passed across her face, quickly hidden under a forced smile.

"I… You know, I was going to stay the night here. I find myself spending a lot of time getting to know Vah Ruta lately."

He looked at her with slight confusion.

"Alright," he replied deliberately, "I'm going to head back to the town. I have my duties as the princess’ knight."

Mipha visibly tensed at the mention of Princess Zelda. She turned to him, and said in a low voice,

"I thought we were going to spend more time together."

The Zora princess gave him a sidelong glance from under her head fins, a look he had never seen her give before.

He tried to come up with a response but found none at hand. Mipha began to speak again, with a boldness that surprised him.

"Link, you know the Zoran Guard would never allow any harm to come to the princess in the Domain. Will you indulge me, and spend the night by my side? I have often wondered what it is like to have my own knight…"

Something in the honeysweet hue of her eyes made him nod.

* * *

 

The lamplight flickered around the stone halls and cogs of Vah Ruta, as they sat on the cool stone. Somehow, he did not feel the cold, though he knew the temperature must have fallen. The walls were covered with gently sweeping carved lines and spots of light, and the moon shone through the roof. Yet darkness seemed to gather in the corners like blowing dust, a murk that the torchlight could never quite sweep away. Again, he felt a presence here, the uncomfortable prickling of someone standing a little too close behind him.

 _Am I scared of my own shadow now?_ he wondered. From the increasing number of monsters, they knew the return of the Calamity would be soon, but not when. That sword hung on a thread over their heads, ready to drop. He thought of Mipha’s agitation earlier, and wondered if the tension was beginning to get to all of them. It made him glad he had stayed here, though he felt guilty for leaving Princess Zelda unaccompanied for so long. Perhaps it was for the best. She preferred not to be watched during her nightly devotions to the goddess. And he didn’t want to leave Mipha alone in this place. He had the odd sensation that there was something that he himself had intended to do upon coming here. Something was insistently nagging at his mind.

He took the hand of the Zora princess next to him, her champion’s sash now draped over her shoulders like a blanket. Leaning against the wall, she was drifting, a soft smile on her face as her head rested against his shoulder. The white scales on her cheeks glimmered in the moonlight, and he wondered how he had never quite noticed that she was this beautiful. She sighed and shifted, and the tiara on her head made a soft clink as it brushed against the hilt of his sword. It was enough to wake her.

She gasped, sitting bolt upright, her gaze searching the room in a panic before realizing he was there. Eyes still wide, she knotted her hands into his tunic. Without thinking, he leaned forward and kissed her. She pressed her body back into him, working her way into his lap. Her hands made their way to the back of his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss. The points of her teeth grazed his lower lip with light scratches.

He put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer, until she was straddling him. In this position she was taller, and he had to tilt his head back for their lips to meet again. He reached up and ran his fingers down the side of her head, feeling the coolness of her jewelry and her skin. Her hands tugged at his tunic, and he obligingly unbuckled his belt so that she could remove it.

She pulled his tunic and undershirt over his head, and he freed his arms from the fabric. Her body pressed against his chest, smooth and soft and gently warm. Her hands wandered over his body and he basked in the sensation. Returning the favor, he slid a hand down the side of her delicate throat, over her collarbone, tracing a path over and around one of her small breasts, feeling her shiver as she leaned in for another kiss.

They shared breath, each gasping between kisses, incoherent praises at the sensation. Her mouth found the spot where his neck and shoulder met, he felt the heat of her breath and the sting of her teeth, shuddering at the mingling of pleasure and pain. He groaned, pulling her down on top of him, while she fumbled with his trousers. She had to pull away from him as he wriggled to free himself comfortably, and the absence of her touch was nearly painful. They reunited forcefully, his lips against hers, her nails raking his shoulders, his hands on her hips, pulling her down onto him. The sound she made was beautiful, as was the electricity that ran through him when she rocked her hips, pushing down onto him, causing his vision to fade at the edges as he lay back on the stone floor.

His eyes were focused on her as she moved above him with perfect grace. She had found her rhythm and he squirmed in agony. Half of him wanted to grab hold of her, take her with rough and fumbling desperation, while the other half couldn’t bear to disrupt something so beautiful. Moonlight glittered on her scales, highlighting the curve of her breasts and the shimmering line of her neck and shoulders, waist and hips. Unable to resist, he pushed up to meet the movement of her hips, and was rewarded with a surprised and shuddering noise. His hand moved to the place where their bodies met, thumb finding the spot he was searching for. Mipha moaned and pushed into his hand, he pressed back, tracing rough circles. Her eyes closed, breath coming in short, sharp gasps. With a final movement, she let out a cry, her legs shivering around him. He felt a pulse from her, the heat pushing him over the edge, thoughts fractured, all senses focused on the moment, the sensation-

When he came to his senses, she was next to him, lying on the stone. He rolled onto his side to face her, and their hands entwined, a silent assurance. Her eyes were already closing, and he followed her into sleep.

* * *

 

He stirred, certain of a weight pressing down upon him. Eyes met his own, not a soft gold but a violent orange, slit pupils of a black so intense it was like a wound in the world. An animal panic seized him, the eyes were those of something great and terrible and now that it had seen him, goddesses, _it had seen him,_ he would never be able to escape from their sight, freeze, fight or flee. The weight on his chest grew heavier, spreading to pin down his limbs, the force on the verge of pain, crushing the air from his chest. The eyes were coming from all around him now, forming and opening with the sound of wet flesh swelling and tearing, each new glare piercing him with fresh terror, rising to a pitch he had never known, until his weighted lungs forced a gasp and his eyes flew open.

He was on his feet in an instant, panting, sweating, muttering curses like a madman. His eyes searched the room for the unseen enemy, the one that was nowhere and everywhere and _behind you right now_ and always watching. With deep, heaving breaths, he summoned his self-composure.

He had woken Mipha, and she was looking up at him with fear in her eyes. Now guilt and shame seized him, he had frightened her because of his own stupid nightmare.

"Sorry," he muttered, "Bad dream."

She looked at him sadly, "I’m the one who should be sorry."

"Why?"

"You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me." She wrapped her arms around her knees.

"Don’t be silly, Mipha. It’s not your fault I had a nightmare."

She was silent. He paused to retrieve his crumpled tunic and pull it back over his bare skin.

"Mipha, is everything alright? This place… It feels dark… feels like I’m being watched…"

She gave a cracked laugh, an uncharacteristically cold sound, “How could it be alright? The six of us, against an ancient and powerful evil, fumbling in the dark with technology we barely understand, lacking the power meant to seal it."

He frowned. "You know the Princess is doing her best."

"Of course I know that. Believe me, I don’t envy her position at all… But… I’m glad that you’re my knight, for just a little while…"

She gave him a smile that bared just the hint of sharp teeth.

"Mipha, you know I have to leave soon. I’ve already stayed too long."

She looked at him from under lowered eyelids, spoke in a tone of mild disapproval.

"But do you? What did you actually wish for, hero? Was it really to follow the princess, being scolded at every turn, for a plan that might not even work?"

"What are you saying?"

"Choose me. We can stay together. If you just trust me-"

"We can’t abandon our duties! What in the world has got into you… This isn’t you, Mipha."

"But it is. This is the Mipha you left behind. I’ve changed… I had to change, you see. Once I came here… once you were gone..."

"So it is the beast that changed you." His hand gripped the hilt of his sword, looking around for whatever might be the heart of Vah Ruta. All he saw were smooth stone walls.

"I suppose you could put it that way. Are you going to draw your sword on me?"

He faltered, "No! Mipha, I want to save you. Come with me, leave this place. Goddesses, we’ll fix this, you just have to trust me…"

She drew her trident.

"I don’t think you will."

Once again, her voice was oddly devoid of feeling, the trident leveled at his chest. He gaped at her for a moment, then turned and fled.

* * *

 

His hands scrabbled on the stone as he climbed Vah Ruta’s back. Mipha had run after him, but her body was not as suited to or accustomed to climbing as his, and she was unable to directly follow him. He rested on a stone ledge and drew his sword. The blade shone a brilliant blue white, and the air around him seemed to hiss in response.

_Are you going to draw your sword against me?_

He sheathed the sword again, cursing. There was no way he was going to strike down Mipha, no matter what had happened, no matter what had made her an enemy. He would escape from her, find the princess, fix this, bring her back.

The quick patter of soft feet on stone approached him. He made his way to a ledge overhanging the water, hesitating at the dizzying height for only a moment before diving.

Cold air rushed past him as he fell. There was a brilliant blue flash, then his body dissolved. Threads of blue light swam before his eyes as his limbs unraveled. When the scream escaped him, he was back on Vah Ruta, staggering and disoriented. He sank to one knee, trying to overcome the urge to vomit.

A soft voice came from behind him.

"Vah Ruta is my territory. And you cannot leave."

"Mipha, what is wrong with you!? You can’t keep me here."

"You can’t leave," she repeated, looking at the ground.

"I can, and I will."

He ran inside, and she followed. His boots thudded on the stone, and he heard the soft pad of her feet behind him. The darkness inside seemed suffocating, as if it had form, as if it were closing in. He ran for the control room.

Cold metal struck his legs, sweeping his feet from under him, and he hit the ground. He rolled to face his attacker, and she stood above him, trident pressed to his chest.

"Mipha?"

"Do _not_ go in the control room."

He squirmed, and the trident pressed down harder, slicing his tunic and drawing a drop of blood from his chest.

"You wouldn’t do this."

"For _goddess_ sake, why can’t you just do what I say? Can’t you just trust me, that I have your interests in my mind?"

"Not when you’ve so clearly lost it." He shoved the trident aside, wincing as it sliced through cloth and skin, leaving a sharp red line that formed beads of blood. He grabbed the handle and yanked her forward, causing her to stumble, and simultaneously pulling himself to his feet. Before she could recover, he made a break for the control room.

He skidded to an abrupt halt as she appeared again in front of him, though he hadn’t seen her move. The central point of the trident hovered a hair’s breadth from his throat. Her gaze was steely.

"I’m not your prisoner."

"I don’t want to make you one."

"Then let me go!"

"I can’t." There was just the hint of a tremor in her commanding voice. A sorrow passed across her face, and she moved her eyes from him, staring at the stone floor. He took the opportunity to push her trident aside and charge forward. She drew the weapon back for another thrust. He twisted to avoid it, and closed on her, landing a knee in her solar plexus. She crumpled.

He heard her gasps as she tried to regain her breath, felt her hands tug at the edge of his trousers as the cloth slipped between her fingertips. It took everything in him not to go back to her, to help her to her feet, to apologize for hurting her. But he was sure, now more than ever, that the key to his escape was whatever was in the control room, whatever she so desperately didn’t want him to see or touch.

"Don’t…" she gasped out.

It was what he needed to push him forward. He made his way down the ramp, where a bulbous black object loomed at the other end of the room. His footsteps splashed in the water, old and stagnant here, not the pure water of the Domain. The room filled with a metallic smell like old blood. In the heart of Vah Ruta, he felt the oppressive darkness weighing on him more heavily than ever, the presence within seemingly salivating like a predator closing in.

Mipha was at the entrance to the room, leaning heavily on the stone wall. She spoke once more,

"Link…"

He wished he’d turned to look at her, to have a last second of her precious _lies._

It was something like a doll, pale except for the mottled purple skin where the circulation had settled, on the side of the face and the underside of stiff hands, The dirty blond hair was tangled, the jaw slack and the eyes half closed. The blue fabric was torn and caked with dried blood, blood that seeped down into the water and formed rust-red clouds. The fingers were outstretched, clutching at-

He felt her approach, no footsteps now as she glided to him, his eyes still fixed on the incomprehensible sight.

-clutching at a skeleton, ancient and bleached white. The remaining scrap of blue cloth was stained and ragged, rotting away with the years. The jewelry adorning the skull was tarnished, the dangling crescents giving only a hint of their former gleam.

"We can’t beat him."

Mipha’s voice came suddenly, from beside him. Her image wavered in the unearthly light of will o’ wisps.

"I was so happy when you returned. For one hundred years, I had been imprisoned here, thinking there was nothing left for me, crying and crying. I prayed that someday, somehow you would return, free Vah Ruta, go on to save Hyrule. Then I could finally rest in peace."

He reached for the jewels on the cracked porcelain skull, fingers trembling as they slipped through without resistance.

"I was so happy when those prayers were answered. To see you again, alive. It was a miracle from the goddesses, all I needed, if you could only…"

She shook her head, tears running down her face.

"But it was not to be. The blight slew you, as it did me. As I watched, unable to do anything, my promises broken yet again. My last hope for Hyrule was gone."

She reached for him, gently taking his hand.

"But from that despair, my final wish was born. If you and I could be together, if we could spend our days in happiness... for just a little while before the end of the world…"

She let out a broken sound.

"Maybe that was all I could do. I wanted to be there to give you some comfort at the end. Even if it was fake. Even if you’d never know it…"

He still said nothing, he had no words for this. But he squeezed her hand and pulled her into a tight embrace. Her tears, warm and wet on his shoulder, felt real, as real as the tears rolling down his own cheeks. How could this all be an illusion? A ragged sob escaped him as they sank to the ground.

They sat there, clutching each other like lost children, until finally it seemed they had run out of tears to shed. The cold and stagnant water lapped around them. He felt the dark presence again, and knew what it was, the shard of Ganon that haunted this place and had taken both their lives. It pursued them even in death. His fingernails dug into his palm.

"I have to save her," he said finally. “I have to.”

"I want to save her too," Mipha murmured, "More than anything. She was a dear friend. But we are the dead. All that’s left to us are our regrets."

He untangled himself from her, and rose to his feet. She looked up at him in confusion. Slowly and deliberately he made his way to where the body- where his own body lay. He reached for the hilt of the sword, the wordless voice that called to him. The feeling of the burning gaze on him intensified, the interior of the Divine Beast shivered with a silent fury. And now he could feel Mipha too, radiating gentleness into the air, holding it back with what little power remained to her, that which had formed her dreamworld sanctuary.

"Are you sure?" she asked. The air around them was stirring now, a hot and heavy wind. She stared at him, tears running down her face, then hung her head.

"Link, I should have known that you would want to fight to the end, no matter what. My love…"

She rose unsteadily to her feet.

"Then let this be my last prayer. I could not bring back the dead in life, and I expect it will take everything I have to do it now. Even my existence itself. Should you fall again, you will be trapped within Vah Ruta, alone. Until the world ends. More than anything, I wanted to spare you from that fate…"

Her eyes shimmered with tears.

"Fight. Save her. Do what I could not."

She began to fray at the edges, thin and hazy. Light gathered in her cupped hands.

"I love you."

The light struck his chest and his hand wrapped around the hilt of the sword, solid in his grasp. Mipha paled as the light flowed from her throughout his body, her fingertips and limbs delicate as clear ice, vanishing like the spring thaw, down to her glowing heart. The moment he reached for her, she fell as a single teardrop. A faint glow rippled across the surface of the dark water before it, too, faded.

* * *

 

A blue spear hissed as it formed from harsh light. The Blight roared, its single glass eye fixed on its opponent. Sword in hand, he rose to face it.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is inspired by an amazing fanart by Karasuki and their description of a scenario where Link dies to Waterblight Ganon and Mipha decides to "keep" him. <http://karasuki.tumblr.com/post/166465555596> (Blog in Japanese). It also references two things from the Japanese text of the game, "Mipha's Grace" is "Mipha's Prayer", and when you free her, she says that after her death she "was crying, always", until Link arrived 100 years later. Finally it is dedicated to the 3,574,867 times I died against Waterblight Ganon when I only had like five hearts and crap weapons. Yay.
> 
> This... was hard to write. For one thing, even though Link thinks of it as lies, Mipha's dialogue is made up of statements that are basically true, though misleading. For his part, Link can't pinpoint what's wrong because he still doesn't have all his memories back, and has even lost the awareness of his own amnesia, existing in a dreamlike state.
> 
> Also writing a twist is hard because of course you as the author are perfectly aware of it the entire time, and therefore it's hard to judge whether the clues and red herrings you're giving are blatant or too vague. Please comment and let me know when you realized this was a post-Calamity fic... even the answer is "as soon as I read the title, duh".


End file.
